100th post giveaway!

It's my 100th posting on this little webspace of mine. I figured a giveaway was in order, and I happened to pick up a Neptune charm pack today, just for giving away. I have some other goodies I"ll throw in, too, but that's a surprise. I really am grateful for all of your support and feedback. Sometimes creating can be a bit lonely, but knowing there are other (mostly) women out there feeling the same way about fabric and design makes me feel good. Leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite thing about your hometown, and I'll pick a random winner on Monday. Good luck, and thanks for reading!I've started on a long term quilt project, just for me. After seeing all the half hexagon quilts out there, I decided it was a good use for my Hello Betty charm pack. I also used an American Jane Snippets pack, and have been scouring online looking for other 1930s charms. If you have any good sources, let me know. I don't normally choose those fabrics, but looking at the quilt so far, I really like it:After all of those blasted nine-patches, I think I needed a break from squares. It's a lot of fun to play with the fabric placement on this one. Speaking of nine-patches, I have about half of the quilting done on that quilt. I decided on stippling it, but adding some loops. I also used bamboo batting for the first time, and it's amazing, like everyone says.

neptune dress-- with pictures

By (kind of) popular demand, here are some pictures I took of myself modeling my new dress. The front:And the side, showing the pocket detail:Last summer, I bought a big pattern cabinet full of patterns (mostly from the 1990s) on Craigslist. This was a funny way to go about making a dress, as I bought three yards of the navy and 3/4 yards of the coral. I went to the pattern cabinet and found something I could make, and decided on this. It's a 1992 McCalls pattern, #6004. It's no longer in print, and has been out of print so long I didn't even find it on the McCalls's out-of-print section. Here it is:
I made view B, like the yellow dress. It's hemmed to about my knees. The pattern called for 3 1/2 yards of one fabric, but I switched it up to accommodate my two different fabrics. I followed the pattern just about exactly, with the exception of adding a few rows of shirring to the back. I wish I could've taken a picture of the back; I think it's the cutest part. It's a very comfortable dress, and I think I'm going to get a lot of utility out of this one.

neptune dress

Grr, my camera battery died just as I was about to take pictures of my latest dress. I made a Marilyn-Monroe style cotton halter sundress out of this fabric:With the pocket lining, halter tie, and big tie belt with a bow at the waist out of this:I'm having a bit of a problem getting it to fit under the arms (what else is new?) but I think I might be able to fix that with some elastic in the back. It's really cute-- take my word for now, and I'll take pictures later.
I wish more fabric designers had a sense of humour like Tula Pink. I had to tell my husband that there are turtles and fish in the fabric.
I also made a zillion more nine-patches for Amanda Jean's nine-patch quilt-a-long. I'm set for the next month.

Amy Butler's everything bag

This is what I've been spending most of my time on this weekend:I mentioned in my last post that the only project I really wanted to try out of the Little Stitches book was "The Everything Bag". I was hoping I'd be able to carry it without looking like I was carrying a diaper bag... but I'm thinking I'll hold on to this for a mom-to-be. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I read a number of reviews of this online, and was most freaked out by the 2-layered peltex divider in the center. I didn't have a problem attaching that, but it was super annoying to maneuver around when I was attaching the lining to the outside. Here's the lining:
Yep, those are the same fish that I used here. Who would've thought that fish and pears would go together so well? I decided to use fabric for this that I already had on hand, after the sticker shock of the various interfacings. This required the previously mentioned Peltex, fusible fleece, and a mid-weight fusible pellon, setting me back nearly $40 at JoAnn. With a coupon. I carefully followed the pattern, except that I sewed on the side panels without having the outside pockets attached, so it's missing 2 pockets. I think it still has plenty.

If I was to sew it again, I would do a couple of things differently.

1. I would use a shorter length of elastic in the lining pockets, because I think they gap a little more than I'd like.
2. I'd make that silly divider not go quite out to each edge (is a divider really necessary in a diaper bag? Seriously, I'm asking-- I've never carried one).
3. I'd forget about buying the expensive fusible fleece and use scraps of quilt batting instead. The fusible fleece didn't ever really fuse, and I followed the instructions.
   
4. I might make the straps a little longer, though I guess it could get a little out of control.
   

I think that's about it. I'm crazy in love with the fabric, and that I managed to keep both of the directionals going the right way. I think it's about time I start working on a quilt, and get away from all of this baby crafting.

PTQB-- April

Stephanie sent some great fabric that looks a lot like stuff I'd pick out. Tula Pink, polka dots, aqua, brown and green... clearly, a girl with good taste! She wanted a log cabin, but one that wasn't wonky. This is what I came up with:
The only fabric I added was the very outer border-- look familiar? This is a twist on a traditional courthouse steps pattern, but the widths of the fabric are different. I was very careful to keep the directional prints going the same direction, most notably the butterflies. This was much less time consuming than Chen's but I love it just the same.
Next up: Erin's block.

Mom

This is finished in time for my mom's upcoming April birthday:I just finished the binding tonight, while watching TV. I quilted it in diamonds, 3" apart, like the Grandpa Fred quilt. I didn't have a problem going through the canvas on the back, though that was a pain for binding. This is a "stash" quilt rather than a "scraps" quilt. I define scraps as fabrics that I've already cut into, whereas the fabric for this one came out of things I've been hoarding. I'm a huge fan of that green Amy Butler print; I had it in watermelon, and both have made their way into so many of my projects. All of these fabrics have so much motion and are really round, which is why I chose to make these square (for balance).

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm really excited about that border, not only because I think it pulls it all together, but also because my mom taught me how to fish last year. She can catch and cook her own dinner. To tie in the red blocks from the front and the orange strip on the back, I used this for the binding:I think that's how I managed to bind it in one night-- there's so much to look at, it didn't get boring! I've never used fabric with a white background for binding before, but I think I like it, at least for this quilt.
It's in the washing machine now; I'll be sure to take some up close pictures after it's washed and dried. I'm anxious to mail this to her and see what she says!

new quilt in progress

My mom lives in a tiny little house on a small island. She's very crafty and has impecable taste, and just this week taught herself to knit (without a book or any instructions-- she just thought about it and applied her extensive crochet knowledge). Her queen sized bed takes up most of her tiny bedroom. The point is, a quilt could really change the way her room looks, especially a nice bright fresh one. Like this one in progress.

The pieced back has 4 stripes: pale aqua oxford shirting, orange Paula Prass, a tiny strip of IKEA canvas, and brown swiss dot. I love that canvas, but didn't want it to be itchy or too hot. Plus, I didn't know how it'd work while quilting, so I figured I'd start small. I never pre-wash (that's another post altogether) but I'm curious to see how this will hold up. Here's the back: And here's a sneak peak of the front:
It's hanging over my bannister, anxiously awaiting basting. I actually made the top sometime last year, but I wasn't crazy about it. Plus, it was just a little too small for my own queen sized bed. Then, I pulled it out, and after a good sale find of the Tula Pink fish fabric, it cam together. It's not a very complicated quilt pattern, just some framed squares, but I think my colour choices are what makes it a little more interesting.

Once I actually get this quilted, I'll be sure to take a full-length picture. Apologies as always for the bad picture-- the background is white, and the rest of the colours aren't quite so harsh in real life. This is a big quilt-- nearly 90" long, which was actually really nice for cutting my batting.

Grandpa Fred quilt update: my dad delivered it to him, and according to my dad, Grandpa "really liked his blanket and was surprised but asked for it to be taken to his house so it wouldn't get stolen from the assisted living facility". I'll take that as a compliment, for sure. Even though my dad called it a blanket, which we all know is inferior to a quilt. As I mentioned before, I come from a non-quilting culture. I guess they'll get it eventually.